BWI given green light to launch Cuba flights

Baltimore/Washington (BWI) has followed Tampa International Airport in receiving approval from the US Customs and Border Protection to handle passenger charter flights to and from Cuba.

Baltimore/Washington (BWI) has followed Tampa International Airport in receiving approval from the US Customs and Border Protection to handle passenger charter flights to and from Cuba.

“We are grateful that the federal government has approved the application for direct charter service between BWI and Cuba,” says Paul Wiedefeld, executive director of Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport.

"The authorisation can produce expanded access to Cuba for Maryland and the entire National Capital region. This service has the potential to benefit many institutions and organizations throughout our region.”

Only yesterday, Tampa International Airport announced that it had received the go-ahead to launch Cuba services.

The State of Florida, by US Census statistics, has the largest Cuban-American population in the entire nation and the Tampa Bay service area is ranked second in the nation only to the Miami-Dade County service area.

“I wish to thank the President and his administration for allowing more points of entry into Cuba. The flights of course will assist economic development for both sides," said Steven Burton, Tampa International Airport's vice chairman.

"But more importantly, the new policies will better enable the tens of thousands of Cuban Americans in our City to reunite with their families whom they may not have seen for decades."

BWI and Tampa joins a select list of US airports to offer service to Cuba, which was previously restricted to Miami, New York, and Los Angeles airports.

New federal regulations expand religious, academic, journalistic, and cultural travel between the United States and Cuba.